A New Chapter
by prettypunk369
Summary: Shinju Masami's life was fine, until Yoshito Hachiro came back into it. Now she must balance love, work, the past, and her own mind. (Third-genre: Comedy)
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, this is my first fan fiction ever, so please be nice! I plan to make this pretty long and it is rated T for the future. Please rate, review, follow, favorite, whatever!**

**NOTE: There are and will be some similarities of this story to Sekai-Ichi Hatsukoi. I actually started developing this story before I read and watched SIH. (I absolutely love Sekai-Ichi Hatsukoi!)**

**FUTURE CHAPTERS: 'Devil Week' is basically equivalent to 'Hell Week' but I actually have a cousin in Japan who works for a publishing company. She watched SIH too, and it made her laugh because their schedule is like that with a 'Hell Week', but SIH, of course, exaggerates it a bit. So my version of hell week called 'Devil Week' will be, more or less, **_**realistic **_**compared to SIH. No 'dead bodies' or people passed out on the floor unless I want drama. But there will be stressed people, yelling, language, etc.**

**Btw, imagine this all as a shoujo manga, really. Like when Masami hits someone, imagine it as the exaggerated, comical manga-style way. Like if I write, 'He flew into the wall', see it comically. Understand? OK, sorry for the super long rant, let's start this story! **

**CLAIMER: I own this story and the characters, and I'm not trying to copy SIH. Ty!**__

~Chapter 1~

"_A breeze…"_

Masami stood, in front of the library, savoring the gentle touch of the crisp night draft. Looking up at the bright full moon, she watched as the last dying leaves of winter brushed by. Though in the middle of March, this breeze was warmer; signaling the approach of spring. Masami loosened her scarf a little then closed her eyes, feeling the air pulling at her loose hair. She stood there enjoying the night when she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. She quickly made sure she had returned the library book and had her bag. Then she turned to leave, only to stop short of step and of breath.

To anyone else, the man standing in front of her would just be another plain bystander. But to Masami, he wasn't everyone else. She instinctively pulled her right hand to her chest, attempting to cover her ring with the left. If it was him, would he know it was her like she did? Would he remember that promise they made, the promise that was kept in a ring?

Noticing her odd behavior, the man looked at her hand. Something was pulling at the back of his mind about this girl, something familiar. Then he saw it; her ring. The gold band with a single drop of crystal in the middle. The band, along with the girl, that haunted his dreams for almost a decade. The only person he would ever care for in that way would be wearing that ring of a burning promise. His eyes widen in shock as he looked up at her face. Yes, it was now so clear. She had the same rosy lips, caramel hair, beautiful face that he loved. But those eyes of navy blue were what made them all flood back. The memories.

"A-ano…" He didn't even know what to say. Suddenly, the girl turned and ran down the library steps. He tried to call out, but words failed him.

Masami gasped as she flew down the steps. Jumping off the last step, she ran all the way home. Inside her apartment, she flopped down on the ground against the door, struggling for air. Such a composed person as herself, how had she lost it all in a second and froze? All because of a boy who looked exactly like…like…_him_? It couldn't be the same person, could it?

She heaved a sigh, placing her face in her hands. She felt a cold halo of reminder against her cheek and looked at her ring finger. It was there still placed, reminding her every day. Without them even realizing, was their promise being kept and fulfilled?


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again! I can't really tell, or find, if anyone actually reviewed, favorite, followed, or even read. I don't know if it is the website or my account, but I hope somebody does. **

**Sorry that last chapter was so short, it was more of an intro I guess. I promise I'll try to make them at least a thousand words a chapter. Please R&R and F&F (Read, review, favorite, follow)**

**Anyways, enjoy! :)**

~Chapter 2~

"_Here, I got you something," Hachiro held out his hand, opening it. Masami looked down at the little circle resting in his palm; she realized it was a ring. It was simple, just a gold ring with a single small crystal embedded in the surface. But she loved it._

_Grabbing it, she slipped it on her right ring finger, smiling warmly as it fit perfectly. This had now become her prized possession, the ring from the boy she clandestinely cherished. Knowing she would love him and the ring forever, she felt tears spring into her eyes. Did she really have to leave, leave him and everything behind?_

"_Masami," Hachiro quietly said. She lifted her gaze from the ring to him. Those beautiful chocolate brown eyes she had adored all these years bore into her Catalina blue ones._

"_Masami, let's make a promise. A promise that we'll meet again in the near future and be together again. Despite the circumstances later on, we'll try."_

_She didn't understand exactly what he meant, but she wanted to. She smiled almost sadly and nodded her head, "We'll try."_

_Then she was pulled into an amorous embrace. This one was different from their usual hello and goodbye hugs; it was long and gentle. But at the same time held her tightly, not wanting to let her go. Tears pricked her eyes again and her heart skipped a beat. Knowing the meaning of the hug, she clutched at his back, her head on his shoulder. _

_Even now, the perfect chance and yet the worst moment, she couldn't say it. Masami couldn't tell him about her love, even now._

_A tear rolled down Masami's cheek, landing on Hachiro's shoulder. He continued to hold her, letting her cry silently. Unknowingly to Masami, a single tear slipped down his cheek._

Masami straightened her blouse, sighing. The clack of her heels echoed in the almost empty hall as she walked back to her desk. Once she walked in, she was greeted by her workers.

"Good morning, Shinju-san!" Amaya, Fumio, and Satoshi called simultaneously. Yuki continued to snore. The twins, Katsumi and Kazumi, leaned from their desks and-as emotionless as usual-saluted, "Good morning, boss."

"Good morning," Masami replied and smacked Yuki on the top of his head. He sat bolt upright, his hair a mess, and sleep still in his eyes.

"Wha-Oh, m-morning…..S-Shinju-san," Yuki yawned through his greeting.

"If you have time to sleep at your desk, you must have finished _all _your work, right?" Masami sardonically retorted. She sat in her chair and casually raised an accusing eyebrow.

Yuki's eyes widened-mostly in fear-and stuttered, "I...Uh-h…W-well…I'll do it now," Yuki's cheeks flushed in embarrassment and he picked up the phone to check on his author. Everybody else busied themselves with their manuscripts and authors.

This place was what Masami truly called home. She'd never been married before, except to her work. She may not seem the type, but she worked for shoujo manga. As editor-in-chief, her function was to make sure her workers performed their greatest. The company goal: produce works of arts and earn millions. But Masami's personal objective: produce a masterpiece from her department that brought joy to the billions of the world and be recognized for it.

Her goal, slowly but noticeably, was coming true. Becoming the youngest editor-in-chief in the company, and one of the only few woman chiefs, already gained her recognition. But when she rose her department up and beyond, she was the forever known Shinju Masami. Masami was first-rate at generating crafts of love and joy, an occupation she was born for. Editing gave her a sense of mind and being, something she always wanted. When she found out about this field of work, she knew that was what she was going to do. Respected and loved within the publishing company and publishing world didn't really matter to her, just by the inhabitants of the regular world.

She also had crafted a respectable team. The identical twin sisters-Izumi Katsumi and Izumi Kazumi-as emotionless and seemingly non-caring as they were, they understood their authors' work had to have passion. Masami's best editor Tamotsu Satoshi, strangely, worked within the depths of shoujo. Many wondered why, with his high intellect and understanding, he even worked at Kabushiki Publishing. Satoshi was also the "Guardian Angel" among the editors, as Yuki named him. He reaches out to the ones in need, and never leaves anyone behind. Everybody else just called him Sato-chan. He was capable of 'high intelligence required' jobs, and editing wasn't necessarily a 'need genius' job. Nobu Yuki was a perfect example of that; the youngest at twenty-three, therefore with the most energy of the editors. He was the goof of the department, loud and cracking jokes whenever possible. Maybe he wasn't the smartest, but he understood his work and was capable enough for his job. At the end of the cycle, on Devil Week though, he turned into the demon of the department. Stressed to the point of killing someone, he snapped at anyone or anything that dared crossed his path, except Masami of course. Only the oldest one of them, Daisuke Fumo, could calm Yuki down in his freak outs. Fumo was the "sweet old man" of shoujo.

Finally, there was Chiharu Amaya, Masami's best friend. A quiet, down-to-earth, hard-working girl, she was a great editor. A huge fan of shoujo manga and romance in general, she was familiar with the credentials of a great work. As Masami put it, she turned 'fan-girl mode' when she found some romance of interest.

As lunch time rolled around, Masami finished a call with her main author. As she stood, she looked around. Everyone was consumed in their worked and they jumped when Masami spoke.

"I'm going to lunch, so Satoshi-kun you're in charge," Masami grabbed her bag, checking she had everything.

"Ha? How come Guardian Angel is in charge?" Yuki stretched and called.

"Because he is the most capable and responsible. Maybe if you were more like him, or any else in the department, I might consider putting you in charge," Masami teased and he scowled.

"Are you going-," Katsumi started.

"-with Osamu-san, boss?" Kazumi finished. A loud squeal broke the sound barrier and Amaya jumped on Masami.

'_Oh no, Amaya-chan has gone fan-girl mode," _Masami took note as Amaya clung to her sleeve.

"Again?! This is the fifth time this month! So tell me, has he kissed you yet? What's your relationship status? Are you in love?" Amaya's eyes sparkled and a huge grin split across her face.

"Wha-, no! We are just," Masami felt six pairs of hungry eyes ogle at her, "good friends."

"More like fuck buddies," Yuki mumbled. He felt Masami's aura darkening and she growled, "Yuki…"

Yuki laughed nervously and sweat dropped. Amaya pursed her lips in obvious disappointment. The lack of romance within the office was noticeably gnawing away at her insides, and she was desperate to get any inkling of any kind of affection. Especially when it came to Masami.

"Why haven't you made a move? Or rather, why hasn't he?" Amaya sulked back to her desk and plopped into her seat. Masami sighed and replied, "We are just friends, no strings attached. I don't need a relationship right now."

This was Masami's excuse, but only she knew the real reason. She still loved somebody, somebody that was long gone. Or rather, she _thought _was long gone. The incident was still fresh in her mind; from Friday night. She had decided to brush it from her mind as much as possible, and tried not to think of it. Her ring suddenly felt tight.

The elevator slowly descended to the tenth floor; two floors below her department. Most departments shared a floor with at least one other department, but shoujo got lucky. The twelfth floor was the meeting rooms, exactly in the middle of the building of twenty-four floors. When they built the meeting rooms, they ended having a quarter of the floor left; just big enough for a department. They decided to stick shoujo manga there, their own floor. Masami was happy about the setting and the circumstances. There was a great view of the city from the windows, they had their own bathroom, break room, and lunch room/kitchen. They could also be as loud as they wanted, and talk about pretty much anything they wanted. Not that her department was that loud anyways, besides Yuki and on Devil Week.

The soft ding of the elevator doors woke Masami from her thoughts. She gracefully walked off and headed for the shounen department. As she passed the other two departments sharing this floor, people called out "Hey, it's the Great Shinju-sensei!" or "Hey Shinju-san!" She was truly famous within the company. Walking inside the door of shounen, the heads of the workers popped up. They all smiled and exclaimed, "Its Shinju-sensei!"

This team was as small as hers, only six employees. But they all worked just as hard as the other oversized teams, and besides, Masami preferred a smaller group for she was always a loner. She smiled warmly and waved. They all stared and whispered, "Shinju-sensei is so pretty, she should be a model!"

As she heard these comments, she blushed crimson. All through her life, she had been a 'beautiful girl' and people would acknowledge it many of times. She was also known as fearless within Kabushiki Publishing, fearing no man. But really, unknown to everyone, the Great Shinju Masami-sensei was very insecure and had many anxieties. She hadn't really bloomed until just before high school and was quite the loner. Beside the one friend she had in school, her best friend she loved…

Masami shook her head lightly, scolding herself for thinking of him. She continued to walk to the editor-in-chief's office and knocked on the door. A clear voice answered, "Come in!" She slowly opened the door, only to stop dead in her tracks.

There he was, standing there in front of the desk, holding a manuscript. The boy who had come to sit with her in middle school at lunch, because she was alone. Immediately they became friends, basically inseparable. Spending all those years together, she had come to love him as more than a friend. Then suddenly moving away, they made that promise. Meeting years later in front of a library, unbeknownst to either of them, that vow was slowly being carried out.

Not noticing the awkward silence and disbelieving stares at each other, the man sitting at the desk stood. The editor-in-chief of shounen was non-other than Osamu Shigeru. Becoming Masami's best friend in university, they were ecstatic that they both were accepted to the same publishing company. She went to shoujo, he went to shounen. It wasn't a secret that they were close; the entire company knew they were best friends. Both excellent at their job, they were often gossiped about. How great they looked together, when the wedding was going to be, who was going to make a move first, etc. Even how cute their babies would be, with Shigeru's shaggy blonde hair, silver eyes, and good looks combined with Masami's straight caramel hair, navy blue eyes, and beautiful face and body. Masami ignored these rumors and talk, but always with a blush.

"Ah, Masami-chan! Perfect timing, I wanted you to meet my new errand boy and editor I hired a few weeks ago. His name is Yoshito Hachiro," Shigeru walked out from behind his desk. Masami immediately regained her demeanor and extended her hand, plastering a smile on. Hachiro took her hand, still in his daze.

"Chiro-kun, this is the Great Shinju Masami-sensei. Be careful, she will bite if she needs to," Shigeru chuckled and Masami cleared her throat.

"Oh, I heard there was a new addition to the family. So where did Yoshito-kun come from?" She decided to avoid all eye contact with him and looked at Shigeru.

"He transferred from Gikkan Publishing. He's actually the eighth son of the Yoshito Family. But he decided to do editing rather than insurance and fashion."

The Yoshito Family was a major first-class family. The father owned an international insurance company, and the mother was a big fashion designer. They had eight sons and no daughters, but this Masami already knew of course. She remembered his brothers, all different but still a family.

"I'm actually taking him has my own apprentice, in a way. He'll go to meetings with me now and run a few errands around the company for me," Shigeru laughed lightly, getting a nervous smile from Hachiro.

"Don't abuse your employees," Masami raised an eyebrow.

"He actually asked me. Well let's go to lunch, I'm starving. Good job Chiro-kun, review that manuscript again and call your author about the changes," Shigeru picked up his bag and coat, walking out of his office. Masami weakly smiled at him, still avoiding major eye contact.

"It will be a pleasure working with you, Yoshito-kun," Masami bowed and Yoshito quickly ducked down too.

"O-oh, hai Shinju-san. A pleasure to be with you again," Yoshito mumbled but Masami heard. She blushed madly and Yoshito gave her a familiar smile. Masami quickly left to Shigeru's call, still blushing.

**Phew, Chapter 2 done! Sorry about my big chunk of explaining each character from shoujo, it just makes my life easier and you now understand each character better, hopefully. Plus, it's just my style XD.**

**Oh, and I am warning you now: My writing tends to be good in the beginning, (whether in a single chapter or entire story) decline in the middle and sometimes I'm embarrassed by it, then regain it's formal glory in the end. -_- If you start to see this story going down that path later on, please don't hesitate to tell me and give suggestions. But don't be an ass about it. Thank you! :)**


End file.
